Marks used in Racing

Courses use a mixture of special racing marks and navigation buoys. When the courses are announced, racing marks may be identified by their sponsor's name. On the charts their abbreviation is used. Sponsored marks will have the sponsor's name stencilled on them, which may ease identification.

The positions given below are likely to be approximate, especially for the sponsored racing marks, although every effort is made to locate them precisely. Use them as a guide.

Note that the position of T (Penrose Sailmakers) has been changed slightly since 2021 in an effort to reduce the effect of the wind shadow off Trefusis Point.

The table lists all the marks which are likely to be used in racing, including marks associated with COGs races and Falmouth Sailing Week (the more distant marks used for the Bay Champagne Race). Village regattas often lay their own temporary marks, details of which will be in their Sailing Instructions.

Entries in red are marks which are laid and recovered on a daily, weekly or event-by-event basis. They are all red, yellow, orange or black inflatable marks, with the exception of Porthallow (P) which during Falmouth Sailing Week becomes a named pink spherical mark. Note that Old Wall (Ow) has 'POFSA' stencilled on it.

St Mawes (Lugo) south Cardinal is listed here, but it is not a mark of any course. However all Sailing Instructions require that boats shall keep to seaward of this mark while racing. East Narrows is also listed, but it is not a racing mark, except during Falmouth Sailing Week.

Additionally, FSC and RCYC now use a ‘gate’ formed by the two buoys (“Buoy 1” and “Buoy 2”) which mark the boundary of the six-knot speed limit restriction in Falmouth inner harbour. These two marks are shown in green.